Tebow statue sports Bible verse on eye black

Monday

Apr 11, 2011 at 10:26 PM

Former Gator Tebow was famous for including references to Bible passages in his eye black during his playing days at UF.

By Nathan CrabbeStaff writer

The statue of former Gator quarterback Tim Tebow unveiled on the University of Florida campus over the weekend includes a realistic touch — a Bible verse written into the eye black.Tebow was famous for including references to Bible passages in his eye black during his playing days at UF. When he wore "John 3:16" during the 2009 national championship game, the biblical reference became the most popular Google search subject.The "John 3:16" verse is the one featured on the bronze statue, designed by Tallahassee artist Sandy Proctor. Proctor's daughter and business manager, Peggy Proctor Woodham, said that Tebow himself picked the verse.The goal was making all the statues as realistic as possible, she said, from the inclusion of the verse to the knee braces on the Danny Wuerffel statue."We were trying to be historically accurate with all of the pieces," she said.The statues represent all three of the Gators who won the Heisman Trophy: Tebow, Wuerffel and Steve Spurrier. The sculptures, unveiled at Saturday's Orange and Blue Debut scrimmage, were funded through private donations. They are the first on campus to honor real-life people aside from a statue of former UF President Albert A. Murphree.Tebow's eye black had previously been an issue in depictions of the Gator quarterback.Tebow is featured on the cover of EA Sports' NCAA Football 11 video game, which portrays him without any message in his eye black. While the lack of a verse provoked some criticism, the company said Tebow simply posed in plain eye black for the images.University Athletic Association officials discussed whether a biblical verse should be included in the statue, said Chip Howard, senior associate athletics director. It was decided that doing so would be the most realistic way of portraying Tebow, Howard said."It really was part of his uniform," he said.The American Civil Liberties Union has challenged religious symbols on public property in the past, but seems unlikely to do so in this case. Howard Simon, executive director of the ACLU of Florida, said in a statement that the constitutional principles requiring separation of church and state prohibit government sponsorship or funding of religion and religious symbols."But this is not a religious statue; it is an accurate portrayal of a person who happens to be devoutly religious," he said.Contact Nathan Crabbe at 338-3176 or nathan.crabbe@gvillesun.com.